Malas hierbas (Zemi Book)

by Pedro Cabiya

Una cosa es levantarse y caminar. Otra muy distinta estar vivo.

La doctora Isadore Bellamy cree en los hechos. Bióloga molecular y observadora minuciosa, conserva un caótico álbum de recortes con plantas tóxicas del Caribe, folclore haitiano y recuerdos que nunca ha logrado clasificar.

Entonces un muerto se incorpora a su laboratorio.

Culto, adinerado y de modales impecables, su colega ha aprendido a pasar por vivo mientras busca en secreto la fórmula para resucitar. Isadore y sus dos amigas se proponen sacarlo de su aislamiento. Él, incapaz de entender qué pretenden esas mujeres, concluye que conspiran para destruirlo.

Entre sus encuentros se intercalan páginas del álbum de historias de hechicería, voluntades robadas y fortunas amasadas con el trabajo de los muertos. Estos relatos nos conducen hacia un saber más antiguo que el laboratorio, donde la química, el deseo y el vodú comparten las mismas raíces.

Para quienes disfrutan del humor negro, el erotismo y la literatura fantástica, Malas hierbas es una novela tan sensual como despiadada sobre los cuerpos que deseamos y las vidas de las que nos adueñamos.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Zombies, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Speculative Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2011

About the author

Escritor, poeta y guionista. Nace el 2 de noviembre de 1971. Irrumpe en el mundo literario con el libro de cuentos Historias tremendas (Isla Negra 1999), galardonado Mejor Libro del Año por Pen Club International. En años subsiguientes publica Historias atroces (Isla Negra 2003), y las novelas Trance (Norma 2007), La cabeza (Isla Negra 2005)y Malas hierbas (Zemí Book, 2011); todas han adquirido status de culto. Ha participado en numerosas antologías internacionales. Se ha destacado también por su cultivo de la novela gráfica con títulos duros como Ánima Sola, Juanita Morel, Obelenkó y Justin Time.

Reviews

[l]

It had promise but unfortunately, it was written by a man.

[verbava]

домініканська зомбі-готика, що могла би стати крутим соціальним горором, але авторові було цікавіше про цицьки.

фрагментарний роман складається зі щоденників головного героя, високофункціонального зомбі, який шукає ліків від своєї недуги, працюючи у фармакомпанії; із нотаток його колеги, у родинному анамнезі якої є близькі зустрічі із зомбі; і з транскрипцій поліційних допитів. усе воно акуратно перемішане, та читати можна не тільки у стандартному книжковому порядку, сторінка за сторінкою, а й за категоріями, і цей другий спосіб, застерігають у передмові, може мати летальні наслідки — але мені, попри цікавість до летальних наслідків, ліньки було після кожного розділу дивитися, куди йти по наступний, то лінійний порядок it was. дитячі спогади, особисті записи й розмови в кімнаті для допитів — не найоб’єктивніші жанри, тож весь час доводиться сумніватися, наскільки надійні тутешні наратори.

утім, навіть якщо вони розказують не все, а щось хибно інтерпретують, картинка виходить моторошна. для головного героя дослідження лихих трав, якими можна звести в могилу, а потім звідтіля підняти, — шкурний інтерес; а от його колега — нажахана стороння спостерігачка за зомбіфікацією як логічно вдосконаленою формою торгівлі людьми: комусь із підприємливих домініканців спадає на думку, що із зомбі вийдуть недорогі слуги, дуже зручні в суспільстві, яке на використання рабів уже морщить носа.

і якби не контекст, то й усюдисуща сексуалізована плоть, мабуть, не сильно бісила б, але ж автор прекрасно відстрілює, що експлуатація — це погано, і тільки з усвідомленням того, що жінки — це не просто приємні для ока диспенсери безплатного сексу, у нього чомусь не складається.

[dianne b.]

This is not your little brother's zombie novel, it is an amazing, thoughtful, philosophical, playful story of great imagination.

“Our five senses are not portals through which we are conveyed to an external reality, but rather ports that receive stimuli utterly lacking in intrinsic qualities, that our brains adorn in accordance with evolutionary requirements in order to present them as Truth.”

So we are trained, according to current requirements, in just how the stimuli we receive are True.

This is like no other book i’ve read, no other story i’ve heard, no other trip i’ve taken. What if stimuli one has accepted, turn out to be in direct contradistinction to other - maybe more usual, or usually adorned, stimuli - then, what do our brains do? What is Real?

So when he bleeds - is it proof of delusion? or proof of laboratory success? or perhaps whatever came “alive” when something tactile transpired - the real relationships he had with the three? - the sweet soft emotions of M, the hard lust of P, and the authentic intellectual connection, perhaps from “before” with Isadore? Did they bring life with their ‘love’? Their friendship? Their competitive fascination? What our flotation device in this absolutely unique story is, is that we already know that the Real people, or the ones who think they are, know nothing. We are afloat because we’ve seen through the eyes that taught her eyes, and we know a little of what she knows. So the Real ain’t Real. Thomas Szasz was right. Madness is a myth.

The plot, the stories behind the stories, the completely unexpected twists and That Ending are like nothing before - altogether a wild ride for every part of you, every single part.

Highly recommended for humans, zombies, and those that aren’t sure.

[Miriam]

There’s a review on here where someone says that the premise is interesting, unfortunately it’s a book written by a man. And I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment.

Here’s a quote from page 14 where the main character is describing a female colleague of his: “The hand at her hip cause her lab coat to open slightly, exposing a thin, floral print dress that just barely managed to contain the flawless bulk of her jet-black breasts” and unfortunately the whole book continues this way. The women are disappointingly used as background props that despite being lab scientists, only want to throw themselves at the apparently irresistible protagonist who happens to be their boss.

All of which is extremely disappointing because it is a very interesting take on a zombie novel. The multiple storylines are a bit hard to get used to at first but I actually really enjoyed the flashbacks and interview transcripts. However, I’m not sure how they connect? Do they connect? Either way, they were the best part of the book, which isn’t saying much.

I enjoyed the read but the writing is just insulting to women.

[Nadine in California]

The book starts with a warning: if you read the pages in numerical order, “you will wind up in chaos”; if you follow the page order in the table of contents where chapters are grouped by category, you will be delivered to a “safe harbor”, but “this convenience, however, could be lethal.” I picked possible death over chaos and took the table of contents route, but I’d love to compare notes with someone who read the pages in order. I wonder if a page order reading would be more confusing at first, but would ultimately weave the chapter ‘categories’ together more elegantly. I think the publisher blurb does a great job describing the pleasures of the book without giving anything away, although I wouldn’t call it science fiction by any stretch of the imagination. If you are looking for science fiction zombies you’ll be disappointed, but like the blurb says, if you’re looking for “…an intense and sometimes funny pharmacopeia of love lost and humanity regained” (not to mention a hysterically funny bit of zombie erotica) this is the place.

[❄Elsa Frost❄]

I get it, but I don't get it. Does that make sense?

[Caroline]

Hmmm. Interesting.

I read the chapters in the order 'suggested' by the scrapbook contents page, in spite of the caution in the prefatory 'Warning' that this 'convenience' ( grouping like things together) could be lethal. Unless I have unbeknownst to myself turned into a zombie, i survived the experience.

[Bjorn]

Intriguing spin on the zombie genre, spliced together from both different in-story sources and from different concepts - Haitian history and culture, zombie popculture and lore, basic existentialism and Buffy-like questions of what a soul is, and any conceptual idea that can hijack zombies as metaphors. Just lacks that one idea to bring it all together.

The living dead does not sate his hunger, but rather, transmits it. His actions are crude efforts aimed at converting the zombie from the exception to the norm. But it is the dehumanizing emptiness of the living dead, the absolute lack of access to emotions and the power of reason, his inability to understand just how pointless his labours are, that gives rise to terror, given that the living unwaveringly refuse to give up what the zombies stubbornly, but stupidly, are trying to gain.

[Lindsy C.]

This book was weird, but not in the way I usually like. More weird/puzzling. I feel like I totally missed something, but I don't know what. Even though I read it "out of order" using the table of contents as my compass (as indicated in the introduction), I found it - quite simply put - boring.

At least I'm able to check off another box on my reading challenge list..."read a book with a genre/sub-genre you've never heard of" (a hard one for me find, but I'd never heard of an ethnobotanist sub-genre, or noir fiction).

[Gina Franco]

Este libro es evidencia de que existe una levísima separación entre mundos... Muy recomendado.

[Brandon Prince]

Excellent genre novel that deserves comparison to Bioy Casares. Impressive multi-voiced blend of horror, Haitian folk culture, and phenomenology -- all couched within a comedy of workplace gender relations with a zombie twist. Also includes a 'Hopscotch'-style alternate chapter order.

[Rachel Cordasco]

Does this thing do ten stars? *bangs ferociously on keyboard*

[Jillian]

The female characters were too "sexy lamp" for my taste...the book almost subverted that trope but didn't quite get there. But it was a fun read, and nice to have a zombie book that isn't horror.

[Maura Kelly]

I read this entire thing in one day. WOW, things make a lot more sense when you read them a second time over, and not in Spanish. That being said I am still left with a bit of confusion surrounding some of the characters and their storyline within the larger web of connections. Forgot how much I like sci-fi, and it was one of those books where the ending had me questioning which POV to believe as truth, which consequently had me rethinking the entire story through these differing points of view, questioning which party to believe in. Shit's cray. A lot of zombie porn that I got pulled into a vortex of in the common room with Ian- glad he wasn't aware of the content that I was consuming in his presence! Anyway it was really sweet and innocuous and Pedro Cabiya is a beautiful writer and OMG kindle has dictionary definitions that appear if you double-click on the word which is actually a game changer for me and probably common knowledge but I'm stoked. Proud of myself for this academic push today, due largely in part to the fact that Aaron is an awesome professor with weird and wildly fascinating taste in literature. Can't wait to facilitate a discussion on this tomorrow for 80 minutes (with sarcasm) !!!!!! In other news I love typing a Goodreads review on my laptop because the font is divine.

[Louise]

2,5 - story was interesting in places, but confusing, and the language was very complicated and scientific in places, which made reading certain chapters a chore

[marwine]

this was an interesting time. i read it in order and the reveal def caught me off guard (in a good way). i didn’t enjoy how the three women in this story were handled but i did like isadore’s chapters where we learned her backstory a bit more

[Devynn]

The weirdest book I've ever read

[Donald McEwing]

What a terrific book! Picked it up at the local library, and found myself reading, not just an outstanding zombie novel, but an outstanding novel. It is a real pleasure to find a book that takes a page or two to examine color perception in terms of cognitive psychology- from the viewpoint of a zombie! Or go into a short aside about the story of Pinocchio as a parable about the undead striving to come to life. Gems like this might only occupy a paragraph or two, but the book is full of them. The structure takes an experimental approach, so take the introduction seriously!
Way to go, Pedro Cabiya!

[camilla]

I actually liked this a bit by the end but it took me soooo long to get there. My real issue with this novel is the framework or organization. Despite the beginning of the book telling me not to read the book in a linear fashion, that's exactly what I did. BECAUSE IT'S A BOOK. Read front to back this book is a mess. I kept getting distracted and confused who was narrating and what we were talking about. And you know what? At the end I flipped back to that warning in the beginning and read some stuff in the order they suggested and I felt it gave away too much too early. The enjoyable stuff at the end came too quickly and missed the twist revelation it has reading the book linear. So, ha!

[Soy Literatura...]

"Las tres Gracias", una de las últimas pinturas de Rubens nos dan un preludio de lo que sucede. El amor, la belleza, la sexualidad, la vida en lucha constante serán claves para estos personajes.Un ser, extraño e ignorante de la situaciones que le rodean, y los misteriosos pasados de cada personaje nos mantendrá super atentos hasta llegar al final. No te arrepentirás...

[Nadia]

A Zombie's search for lost humanity and the intellectual quest of the only "woman" who can bestow it. That spells out pure wickedness, spiked with wit, literary storytelling and a wee bit of unsettlement. Pure awesomeness :)

[Carly Crawford]

I received this book as a gift. It’s one that I never would have picked up on my own, but it sounded interesting from the moment I read the flap. It did not disappoint.

This book surprised me and fascinated me. It’s a clever and self-award take on the zombie fascination in our society.

[John]

Holy shit this is a head fuck of a voodoo zombie story. I love it.

[Lau]

Great format and great writing

[Shaelyn]

Very different and thought provoking! I would highly recommend!

[Adam Rooney]

This postmodern zombie novel is full of subtleties that make it humorous, pop, intellectual, academic, philosophical, and an overall pleasure read and analyze.

[Chelli Dam]

The concept is really interesting and I enjoyed the post modern structure. The misogyny and sexual objectification of women was a bit much.

[Tori-Lynn]

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Wicked Weeds. Labelled as a novel caught in the crossroads of Caribbean noir and science-fiction, it promised to be something I’ve never experience before. I engulfed the novel in a single sitting, and when it was over I found myself in an absolute daze. This book packs a punch few novels on my bookshelves possess. There is not a single wasted page or stray paragraph.

Our “undead” protagonist is a curious man. Obsessed with finding a cure that would reverse his condition and allow him to become “a real person,” we see him thrust into a strange tango with his three beautiful collaborators. Unlike his young colleges, our zombie no longer has the capacity for emotion. More than that, he can not longer ever recall what it was like to possess feelings of any kind. There is a physical barrier between him and the living world—one that encompasses taste and touch. This creates a humorous scenario that dominates most of the plot and spurs us through the majority of the book’s pages.

The content of this novel was incredibly unique and fresh. I found myself engrossed by the science of our zombie character, intrigued by his inability to grasp the complexity of human emotions, and thrilled with the references to modern “zombie culture” in both books and movies. The details of Isadore’s scrapbook had me believing ever word of it.

An element of Wicked Weeds that enthralled me was the format of its content. The table of contents offers an alternative reading of this book—one of categories. The novel is ordered in a articular way that offers the reader to chose between reading the novel as it is ordered, or skipping certain chapters and backtracking in order to read the contents in its respective categories. I chose the later option, and found the story much more engrossing to follow the guidelines set forth in the table of contents rather than read the book in the order it was printed. This creative element really set this book apart from the rest of its so called “zombie novel” genre, breathing new life within its cover. I’m so glad I decided to read such a unique and colorful story.

To read my other book reviews, please visit my website!

[Danny R.]

ASjfadnkbadf, es todo lo que tengo para decir. No, mentira.

Wow, primera incursión con Cabiya y estoy gratamente sorprendida. Para empezar, la novela está estructurada de manera interesante, tipo Rayuela, y el lector tiene libertades para abordar la lectura aunque también hay un camino sugerido. El que yo tomé, de principio a fin y no desordenado (porque soy dispersa y me habría perdido).

La historia cuenta varias historias al mismo tiempo, aunque por supuesto estas tienen puntos y momentos en común. El tema central es el de los zombis, pero no tomado desde la perspectiva del muerto-vivo-caníbal estadounidense (hay referencias a él en todo caso), sino a una visión contemporánea del zombi caribeño, el que se cree desperado por medio de un compuesto o hechicería.
El protagonista es un zombi (¿es un zombi?) que trata de buscar, por medio de su trabajo en una farmacéutica, una cura para este estado que aqueja a tantos individuos en secreto.

Y me gustó, las reflexiones de este zombi en torno a su propio estado, su incapacidad de empatía y de comprender lo que a él mismo le está ocurriendo, sobre todo en su interacción con otras personas, no zombis. La voz del personaje y la de un narrador más allá del relato de repente se confunden al hablar sobre lo que significa la zombificación en el mundo contemporáneo, para reflexionar en torno a la figura más divulgada de su contraparte caníbal; consumir y querer pertenecer pero no lograrlo jamás.

Alguien dijo que este tipo es como el Stephen King caribeño, pretendo averiguar si es verdad o no.

[Andy Weston]

This is not a novel to take on if all the reader seeks is dismembered limbs, rotting flesh and devoured brains. Those aspects are present, but in the background as to the fore is Caribbean folklore, science, wit and wily twists.

The narrative takes the form of a scrapbook kept by Isadore Bellamy who worked with a brilliant but unnamed scientist at a pharmaceutical company that lies in the murky world between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, who believes himself to belong to the world of the undead.
Cabiya’s novel is experimental, and not just in that it can be read in two ways, chronologically, or as the contents page states, by each of its four categories.

Told in fragments; diary entries, interviews, first-hand accounts, botanical notes it is the story of a ‘zombie academic’ trying to conceal that he is not actually alive and using his position at the pharmaceutical research lab to secretly uncover a concoction that could bring him fully back to life.

The question on the reader’s lips is, is he really a zombie. To which we do get a satisfying answer. Though much of the fun, and really it is fun, in Cabiya’s writing is in addressing other concerns; to try to pass as someone you’re not, the difference between being ‘animated’ and being ‘alive’, and how a zombie may differ from an robot or a wooden doll.

A memorable tale of zombie woe, that really is a lot of fun.